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Ten year old news!

It’s new to YOU, isn’t it? Yeah, well, let’s just say that some digging through microfiche pays off.

From 1997, I’ve got an old issue of The Advocate, published just a few days after Maggie Doyle became only the 24th openly gay character on prime time:

ER gets a lesbian

Prime-time TV just got it’s 24th gay character. ER‘s Dr. Maggie Doyle, played by Jorja Fox, came out to fellow first-year resident, Dr. John Carter, played by Noah Wyle, on the February 6 episode of the hit NBC drama. To coproducer Dr. Neal Baer, who wrote the script, Maggie’s lesbian revelation is no big deal. “We also found out that she’s a vegetarian in that episode and that she collects guns,” Baer told The Buzz. “There are all kinds of stereotypes. I wanted to make sure this person doesn’t fit into any box.” Nor will Maggie lead with her lesbianism, says Baer. “We’re going to play her as a doctor who happens to be a lesbian. If it comes up, it comes up, just like in real life. Maybe someday there’ll be a patient who says ‘I don’t want her touching me.’ That would be an interesting story, because that happens.

Back in 2003, Jorja was a spokesperson for the annual Komen Los Angeles County Race for the Cure, and the Los Angeles Magazine had a short article on her work:

Remembering her own experiences as the loved one of a cancer victim, Fox is enthusiastic about what funds raised at the Race can accomplish. “The Komen Foundation has a tremendous amount of empathy, wisdom and guidance to offer people,” says Fox. “They’re an incredible resource.”